Riding Man author Mark Gardiner provides insight into motorcycle racing, history, and industry news. A focus on road racing is to be expected from an ex-Isle of Man TT racer but Backmarker also covers everything from flat track to electric bikes.

Yes, I will tidy up your bathroom

Are you tired of those dog-eared old copies of Motorcyclist and Cycle World that have been sitting on your toilet tank, and that you have been flipping through once a day since 2004?

Well then, you should buy my Bathroom Book of Motorcycle Trivia, and you'll have 365 new entries to peruse, for example, I bet you've often wondered whatever became of this guy? Flip to Day 193 and you'll learn...

“Wild Bill” Gelbke was an aeronautical engineer who
worked for McDonnell-Douglas, before packing it in
during the ‘60s to pursue his dream of building an
advanced, shaft-drive motorcycle equipped with disc
brakes, twin headlights, and an automatic
transmission.
Some dream. Gelbke’s bike (he dubbed it
“Roadog”) was more like a nightmare. It was
powered by a four-cylinder 152 cu. in. Chevy motor
and the shaft drive mechanism incorporated the
differential from a pickup truck. It weighed over three
thousand pounds.

According to legend, no one but Gelbke could
ride the beast. Still, ride it he did – thousands of miles
on a whim, just to go for a steak or a beer. Gelbke
built a second Roadog for a friend.
They say there’s a fine line between genius
and madness and no one who has ever seen the
Roadog disputes it. “Wild Bill” Gelbke was killed in
the late ‘70s in a shootout with police when a
domestic dispute took a turn for the worst. The
Roadog didn’t turn well, either.

The Bathroom Book of Motorcycle Trivia is a great way to kill a couple of minutes a day, and clean up the pile of old reading material on the back of your toilet. It also makes a great stocking stuffer for the other riders on your Christmas list. Paperback, 244 pages, $12.95 to U.S. and Canada. (International readers add $10 for shipping and handling.)